Comments 1 to 25 of 31

Thanks for the prizes, but .... this is another Failbook only thing. Without me, I won't like something I have no opinion on. FB likes have no meaning nowaday since you trade them for a chance to win something. They could be real likes or only attemps to win something.

Good luck to the participants and thanks again for the price ;). I just dont like the way competitions are held now.

Originally Posted by GuilleAcousticThanks for the prizes, but .... this is another Failbook only thing. Without me, I won't like something I have no opinion on. FB likes have no meaning nowaday since you trade them for a chance to win something. They could be real likes or only attemps to win something.

Good luck to the participants and thanks again for the price ;). I just dont like the way competitions are held now.

I personally see it as no different as competitions that ask a ridiculously easy 'A,B,C' question (usually with the answer given at the same time), so I don't get the fuss. I understand why they do a Facebook only comp as it is obviously aimed at a different line of marketing. The thing that annoys me is that there never seems to be a follow up stating who won what and when, with any images of the winners with their prizes. It's like there are these prizes and then they mysteriously all disappear. It also sucks that when you do find out winners of these types of competitions, the winners are those who would be spending thousands on their PCs every year or two. I know 'fairness' doesn't come in to it but it would be nice to see someone really benefit from these prizes. I am sure many will think I am just being a jealous cynic (I won't deny either accusation) but I also believe that there are many, many people who just ignore these comps as they just don't see the point. I mean, I entered each and every Christmas comp last year and not that I 'expected' to win anything but there was no further involvement either. It just all feels like a complete waste of time with the goods going to 'allocated' people.

Originally Posted by SchizoFrogI personally see it as no different as competitions that ask a ridiculously easy 'A,B,C' question (usually with the answer given at the same time), so I don't get the fuss. I understand why they do a Facebook only comp as it is obviously aimed at a different line of marketing. The thing that annoys me is that there never seems to be a follow up stating who won what and when, with any images of the winners with their prizes. It's like there are these prizes and then they mysteriously all disappear. It also sucks that when you do find out winners of these types of competitions, the winners are those who would be spending thousands on their PCs every year or two. I know 'fairness' doesn't come in to it but it would be nice to see someone really benefit from these prizes. I am sure many will think I am just being a jealous cynic (I won't deny either accusation) but I also believe that there are many, many people who just ignore these comps as they just don't see the point. I mean, I entered each and every Christmas comp last year and not that I 'expected' to win anything but there was no further involvement either. It just all feels like a complete waste of time with the goods going to 'allocated' people.

Hi SchizoFrog. We'll be working closely with the Wired2Fire and Multiplay guys on this one, so we'll be sure to be very transparent and do a follow up article on this on Thursday when the comp closes, where we'll announce the winners of the prize raffle tickets and day tickets.

No worries Combatus. It wasn't meant to be a total dig at Bit-Tech and as I said, I am a cynic and I just imagine the PC going to someone who already has a monster machine (or several) who will most likely strip it for parts which will eventually turn up in a 'MOTM' and gain even further hardware prizes.

For what it's worth though, I had 'Liked' the post long before I started commenting. I mean, if I can take the time to moan then I can at least 'Like' something on FB. :)

We have a perfectly fine site here with many options to take part in a competition.

Forcing the readers of this site to sign up on facebook to take part in a competition is total bollocks, and I absolutely hate it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SchizoFrogFor what it's worth though, I had 'Liked' the post long before I started commenting. I mean, if I can take the time to moan then I can at least 'Like' something on FB. :)

No, just NO.

It's not about time or anything, it's about the general idea of not supporting facebook and all these other antisocial sites.

Also don't do facebook 'like'competitions. This is about generating brand awareness. Maybe bit-tech will reach a few more people and gain some readers increasing site traffic thus generating more ad revenue and I can't fault them for doing this, it's a perfectly reasonable business practise, in fact they would be silly not to do it.

But at the same time there it would be nice to see some competitions aimed at those who have helped to make the site what it is. Just look at what The Great Satan has done and what his actions have done for his rep.

Originally Posted by GuilleAcousticThanks for the prizes, but .... this is another Failbook only thing. Without me, I won't like something I have no opinion on. FB likes have no meaning nowaday since you trade them for a chance to win something. They could be real likes or only attemps to win something.
.

I find it annoying and frustrating that so often when I have a negative opinion about something on here, so many respond (including some of those commenting above) by saying that no one is forcing me to do this or that, and yet no one is forcing you to enter this FREE 'competition', (if indeed it can be called a competition, surely it's more of a lottery?).
Bit-Tech survives on readers and subscriptions and they constantly need to try to raise those numbers, that is exactly what this will do. In an ideal situation, this will benefit all readers, however, how this extra exposure is handled is a completely different matter. Facebook has the widest audience potential but the Bit-Tech page gets a handful of article updates, there are more articles on the Bit-Tech website but that too is limited and pushes you towards the magazine and hopefully a subscription.
I don't like the MOTM/MOTY articles/competitions as I have a serious issue with the way they are run and it is a side of Bit-Tech that I have strong feelings about(put simply, it's like a members only club where everyone sits around patting each other on the back and every member gets 'looked after'). So I don't bother reading the articles any more. I may have a quick look at the images (yes, I know this counts as a hit and therefore as another page that has been 'read') but that is it.
Anyway, I don't want to turn this is to 'reasons I don't like Bit-Tech' any more than I have to, I just feel that many of the comments here smack of hypocrisy.

Originally Posted by SchizoFrogI personally see it as no different as competitions that ask a ridiculously easy 'A,B,C' question (usually with the answer given at the same time), so I don't get the fuss. I understand why they do a Facebook only comp as it is obviously aimed at a different line of marketing. The thing that annoys me is that there never seems to be a follow up stating who won what and when, with any images of the winners with their prizes. It's like there are these prizes and then they mysteriously all disappear. It also sucks that when you do find out winners of these types of competitions, the winners are those who would be spending thousands on their PCs every year or two. I know 'fairness' doesn't come in to it but it would be nice to see someone really benefit from these prizes. I am sure many will think I am just being a jealous cynic (I won't deny either accusation) but I also believe that there are many, many people who just ignore these comps as they just don't see the point. I mean, I entered each and every Christmas comp last year and not that I 'expected' to win anything but there was no further involvement either. It just all feels like a complete waste of time with the goods going to 'allocated' people.

I've won a bit-tech comp and did indeed get the prizes. I did then need the money from the later marketplace sale more than the marginally better PSU and CPU cooler or huge case but oh well.

Originally Posted by SchizoFrogFacebook has the widest audience potential but the Bit-Tech page gets a handful of article updates, there are more articles on the Bit-Tech website but that too is limited and pushes you towards the magazine and hopefully a subscription.

Could you clarify a little what you meant by that? I'm not sure I fully understood it but while I agree our Facebook page needs some work, we've been focussing a lot in recent months on ensuring there's a constant flow of decent content on the main site - in what ways do you feel it's limited?

As for "pushes you towards the magazine and hopefully a subscription", I have to take issue with that. There's now only a single mention of CPC on the site; a small (and outdated) advert on the home page. The two publications are owned and managed by entirely different publishers. Granted, Antony, Rick, Gareth and I all write regularly for both, so it ultimately benefits us if people choose to read both, but none of us use one to promote the other.

@Dogbert666
After your comment I went and had a look to reacquaint myself and I have to admit that all the recent articles are present, so I do apologise for the 'handful of article updates' as obviously that opinion is outdated.
It is still my opinion that it is limited, but that isn't entirely Bit-Tech's fault as I understand that you can't just replicate this website through Facebook. However, I also do not see anything about the Bit-Tech page to make it stand out against the actual website. I mean what is the point of it, apart from gaining a larger audience for the website? The articles are the same, but there is so much more available through the website so that anyone who ever visits here has absolutely no reason to follow the page. Which makes it rather stagnant. Again, it is understandable but even the interaction is often rather dead as you can ask a question on an article post and can wait days for a response, if you get a response at all, while on the website not only are forum members having a vibrant discussion but those behind Bit-Tech are also participating. Ultimately, Facebook is a social tool that has become often used for media purposes, but they just is no social side to the Bit-Tech page, which is exacerbated by the fact that there is zero content on the page, it is all 'linked' and redirects to the website.

As for CPC, I wasn't talking about the advertising, it was more about content but then again, this may also be 'out of date'. I used to be a subscriber, I was for about 3 years. This was before Bit-Tech when CPC was a magazine and the website. Then came the transition from the CPC website to Bit-Tech. Then my health issues started and I lost my job, finances in general died and so things had to go, among them was my CPC subscription. Over the years since, my opinions haven't changed much. CPC and Bit-Tech are almost identical apart from their obvious format differences. Because Bit-Tech is a website there is the interaction through the forums and article threads as well as the news stories, but I have always felt that CPC offered far more in terms of articles, reviews and other content. For example, when is the last time anything to do with modding was actually featured on Bit-Tech? You highlight modding projects but do nothing to educate, guide or even review anything to do with actual modding. So my feelings are that Bit-Tech is more 'live' but CPC is far more 'deep'. Therefore if I want more content I have to pay for it through buying, one way or another, the CPC magazine and there is your 'push'. You may wish to differentiate yourselves, as such it has been the subject of several disagreements between myself and Bit-Tech staff in the past, but when the articles are the same even going so far as to use the same award and even award logo (albeit with a different name) I find that hard to swallow.

P.S. I still really HATE being bounced into the poxy forum every time I comment.

Originally Posted by PargeOh the miserable masses come out of the woodwork yet again.

Facebook is a great tool to build your audience, competitions are a great way to gain you extra 'likes' on your page. Great stuff BT.

Please, please ignore all the whining, moaning idiots above.

And, just so you all know, last time I wrote a comment like this, I got a load of rep, so its not just me.

Toodle pip.

It may be whining and moaning but that is the only way things ever develop and improve. People can be as nice as they want about stuff and all that will happen is that things will stagnate and then dwindle and no one will say anything until it collapses. Making a valid complaint however, brings attention to things that could be improved or at least done differently to always push forward.

Nothing good ever happened because someone stood there and said 'Well isn't everything just lovely?'.

Originally Posted by PargeOh the miserable masses come out of the woodwork yet again.

Facebook is a great tool to build your audience, competitions are a great way to gain you extra 'likes' on your page. Great stuff BT.

Please, please ignore all the whining, moaning idiots above.

And, just so you all know, last time I wrote a comment like this, I got a load of rep, so its not just me.

Toodle pip.

Facebook as an advertising-platform to draw in more people into these forums is all nice and dandy with me, but I don't want to be forced to sign up on facebook to enter a contest from bit-tech, when I'm allready a member of this very site for over 8 years.

bit-tech is these forums for me and I never have a look at the frontpage actually. I joined these forums to discuss about a common interest, and facebook or twitter etc isn't a place where you can do this. That's why I call them antisocial. These so called social networks are nothing else then advertising-platforms, where people like to show off and tell the world about their last visit to the throne.

In addition, bit-tech has no control over things happening over at third-party sites. They can't moderate as they do here, and facebook does moderate how ever they feel, sell our informations, etc.

These forums made bit-tech a living community, we're here to talk to each other, share ideas, help each other out, even make realife friends. That's what I call a social network.

Without this forum-community bit-tech would'nt even exist anymore and so I demand that the staff running this site acknowledges the people who made bit-tech what it is and make these lotteries or competitions available to the people within these forums, without forcing us to sign up with a third-party.

@jrs77
I agree with a lot of what you said there but you also seem to be forgetting that it is not Bit-Tech that has put up this prize in the first place. Bit-Tech has never (as far as I am aware) obtained anything that can be considered a prize for their own use and purposes. Everything is in connection with another company and is therefore subject to more than just Bit-Tech's T's and C's. Maybe Bit-Tech could have argued that this comp should be available for their website members, maybe they did and the terms were denied and so while it is not an ideal situation for them, they also want to gain more readers for the 'community' as you put it and in this instance that is through Facebook. You choose the conditions that don't allow you to enter this comp, Bit-Tech didn't. I am an avid visitor to Tom's Hardware and all their comps are US bound so I can't enter there at all. Much in the way that overseas visitors and members can't enter this comp even if they are members of the Bit-Tech forum or not and don't mind using Facebook. These are the rules and regulations of the comp and if they exclude you, it is no basis to demand that the comp be invalid. Fairness does not preside...